A post about trees

I've always wondered: if I had a yard, what would I plant? Well, now we have a yard, a very bare yard. The only survivors from years of renters-neglect were a clump of aspen (almost dead), a lilac bush (only had 2 blooms this year), and one single aspen (incredibly healthy despite being planted 5' off the main road and was never watered. I'm still baffled). We need more trees! Our front door is warped and discolored, our bedroom is always baking in that western sun, and it's impossible to spend anytime in the front yard in the late afternoon heat. It's taken many months of research, but I have finally narrowed it down:

'Northwood' Red Maple
'Canada Red' chokecherry, multi-stem
Oakleaf Mountain Ash
'Hoopsii' Semi-dwarf blue spruce
Swedish Aspen
'Moonglow' Juniper
'Kelsey' Crabapple
'Golden Raindrops' Crabapple

Do you think that's enough?! Some of them ARE going in back, by the way.
I always tell people to take their time and find the perfect tree for the perfect spot. I hope these work. I'm really excited about the Oakleaf Mtn. Ash. The white flowers turn into clumps of orange fruit


So, as you can tell from this post... we're still not finished with our landscaping and Swiss Days (AKA my deadline) is less than 2 weeks away! We're getting closer though. A couple weekends ago, Lloyd, Beverly, Bryan, and Rebecca came and busted out the sprinkler lines. I finished running wire and hooked up the clock (I will NOT be hand-watering the survivor trees forever). Then Paul came and worked for 3 days burying and grading. Now we're painstakingly getting all the rocks out, and prepping for topsoil. After topsoil comes TREES, shrubs, and grass.

It's getting harder though. The days are getting shorter and there's less time to work. I'm also working at DCM a lot more than I was planning. The neighbors walk by in the evenings and offer encouragement and say that it's looking great (it's a sea of dirt! How could it look "great"?!). We'll see what it looks like once it becomes a mini forest!

Babies of Tucson!

Last Week Anna and I took a trip to Tucson so see my newest nephew, Jackson! ... only he wasn't born yet. I knew when I was booking the ticket there was an outside chance that would happen, but I thought that since Anna came a few days early, then Jackson would too. No such luck. Maybe he needed a good low-pressure blizzard, but that obviously wasn't going to happen either. But, it was nice to get away on a mini vacation... to the desert... in July. It was a very productive trip. I learned the lush service you get when you have an "infant on lap" (at least in Tucson. SLC airport could care less about another adorable baby who's flying for free). We sat around Monica and Neil's apartment, ate pop sickles and ice cream, tried to pet the cat, and used Anna as a model for all of Jackson's new baby toys and carriers (she LOVED the citi-mini). We went on several walks, climbed many stairs, ate many fabulous meals, did some yoga stretches... but still no baby. Huh. Oh, well. It was fun anyway. I needed to take home a souvenir, so instead of new baby pictures, I brought home 4 bags of roasted green chilies. Esta bien!

He came 2 days later!!! So cute!!!